One-third of people over 65 will fall at least once a year. Most falls occur on the flat; falls on the stairs or in the bathroom are relatively rare. Old women tend to fall in the house, old men in the garden. In `care homes', many falls occur on the way to or from the toilet.
Common rooms for elderly falls
Bedrooms (30 percent) Kitchens (19 percent) Bathrooms (13 percent) Hallways (10 percent)
The most common places to fall are the stairs, bathroom, living room and garden. Each year, one in four people over 64 years old will fall on the stairs, 13 percent of older adults are injured in the bathroom, 31 percent will take a tumble in the living room, and 23 percent will slip in the garden.
Age-related loss of muscle mass (known as sarcopenia), problems with balance and gait, and blood pressure that drops too much when you get up from lying down or sitting (called postural hypotension) are all risk factors for falling.
Falls are common and costly, especially among Americans age 65 and older. But falls are preventable and do not have to be an inevitable part of aging. Every second of every day, an older adult (age 65+) suffers a fall in the U.S.—making falls the leading cause of injury and injury death in this age group.
1. Advance Age: Age is one of the key factors for falls, older people of age more than 65 years and younger children have the highest risk of serious injury arising from a fall or death. 2. Gender: Across all age groups and regions, both genders are at risk of falls.
Older people are more likely to have a fall because they may have: balance problems and muscle weakness. vision loss. a long-term health condition, such as heart disease, dementia or low blood pressure (hypotension), which can lead to dizziness and a brief loss of consciousness.
Winter: Harsh weather conditions during winter create a challenging environment for older adults. Snow and ice on sidewalks and driveways increase the risk of slipping and falling. Cold temperatures can also cause muscles to tense up, reducing flexibility and balance.
Exercise is one of the most important things you or your older loved ones can do to reduce the risk of falls and minimize injuries from a fall. Below are a few easy exercises you can do in your home that have been shown to increase strength, balance, and stamina.
Falls aren't an inevitable part of getting older, but can become more common and be harder to recover from. If you, or someone you know, has fallen, you're not alone: 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 experiences a fall at least once a year.
Falls are Australia's leading cause of injury hospitalisation and death, representing 43% of injury hospitalisations and 42% of injury deaths.
The most dangerous room in a house isn't even a room, it's the stairs. According to Medical Guardian, a personal emergency response provider, a home with stairs has an added fall risk for seniors. The solution is ensuring there are adequate handrails for going up and down the stairs on both sides.
Nearly 1 in 3 older Australians have experienced a fall in the past 12 months. Of these, 1 in 5 required hospitalisation. Even when falls don't cause an injury, they often trigger a loss of confidence in an older person and lead to an ongoing fear of falling.
Who is Defined as Elderly? Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly.
Almost half of fall deaths involved head injuries, and 29.5% involved hip fractures.
Balance Exercise
1. Feet apart: Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, eyes open, and hold steady for 10 seconds, working your way up to 30 seconds. If you find yourself swaying or reaching for the wall or counter frequently, just keep working on this exercise until you can do it with minimal swaying or support.
There's little doubt that regular walking helps elders avoid falling. By strengthening bones and increasing muscle strength, flexibility and sense of balance, walking is an important fall prevention strategy. Unfortunately, many elders aren't walking enough.
Risk Factors for Falls
While seniors are more prone to falls in general than those in earlier stages of life, a few common risk factors can increase falls. Health issues, vision decline, and medication side effects are some of the big risk factors associated with falls.
More serious injuries may call for a long recovery process. For instance, falls are a common cause of traumatic brain injury in older adults, and it can take weeks, months, or sometimes more than a year to heal.
If you have had one fall but no injury, you fall into the moderate risk category. You are in a high risk of having falls if you have two or more falls a year or one fall with injury.
Of course, it's not uncommon for seniors to find themselves unable to get up. It might be due to injury, stiff joints, weak muscles, or a number of other factors. But in any case, knowing what to do after a fall is just as important as learning how to get up safely.
Evidence was found that the effect of weight on the risk of falling appeared to be linear; greater obesity was related to greater risk of falling [9–11].